What are the benefits of playing pieces?
Mastering the art of performing a wide range of music is an essential part of music learning. In preparing for our exams, you can choose from a broad list of pieces chosen for your grade, each presenting you with an opportunity to develop new skills.
What happens in the exam?
For this section of the exam, candidates prepare and present three pieces or songs chosen from the relevant syllabus. Repertoire lists for each grade can be found in the syllabus for your instrument.
Video: Performance of a piece from our Piano Grade 5 syllabus
How do I find the pieces and songs?
You can download the relevant syllabus from our instrument pages, where you’ll find a list all of the pieces and songs. Some of the pieces will be in books you might already own. We also publish a number of Exam Pieces books, which you can purchase from our online shop or from your local retailer.
Marking criteria
To find out how our examiners assess the pieces in your exam, see our marking criteria.
All instruments (Singing not included) Grades 1–8:
|
Mark |
Pitch |
Time |
Tone |
Shape |
Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Distinction |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Merit |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pass |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Below Pass |
|
|
|
|
|
|
13-16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
10-12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
|